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Understanding why teenagers abuse drugs is part of the solution on how to help them recover from their addiction. Many times, teens take drugs in order to deal with an emotional pain, which is also why many drug users are prone to overdose. Why do teenagers use drugs? There can be several reasons.
Factors within the family
The home is the first society that children are exposed to. Children who grow up in a chaotic home environment, who lack parental attachment, are exposed to domestic violence, and are products of ineffective parenting are more likely to abuse drugs than other teens. Many times, teens who grow up with parents who take drugs or are alcoholics are also more prone to give in to drug experimentation than teens who have a different home life.
Factors outside the family
There are times, however, that children who grew up with good home lives still turn out with teen drug abuse problems. There are many things that could put teens at risk of being drawn to drug experimentation and eventually, abuse. Here are just a few of them:
- Identifying with the wrong crowd - Teens who are naturally shy or are socially awkward often wish for the approval of what they believe to be the "popular" crowd. At times, in their desire to be accepted by what appears to be the dominant crowd, they experiment with drugs and alcohol. The need to feel accepted by a group is at times too strong for some teens to resist.
- Coping mechanism - Teens who feel that they are failing at something or are not good at anything experiment with drugs to feel like they are in control of something. They often use the excuse that they can stop whenever they want in order to exercise some form of control in some part of their life.
- Perception that drug use is alright - Teens are at that point in their life when they are most impressionable and when peer pressure has a huge effect on them. If majority of their friends try drugs and seem to be having fun with it, they are more likely to try doing drugs too.
- Pleasure - Teens who have tried taking drugs feel a euphoric feeling, an artificial high that is hard to achieve naturally. They chase after this feeling, ending up abusing drugs in the process. As they feed this addiction, it takes more drugs to achieve the same euphoric, albeit temporary high.
- Pain management - Whether it's emotional or physical pain, some teens who use drugs to manage the discomfort they feel end up abusing drugs.
If you think that your teen has a drug habit, it's never too late (nor too early) to step in and intervene. At times it's best to admit that, for some problems, parents need the help of professionals to help their teens turn their lives around.
For teens who are caught in substance abuse, rehabilitation and individual therapy, along with family therapy would go a long way with battling the addiction.
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